Elder Morris

about me

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hey everyone -

Some news, I'm with Elder Vaea now. Elder Miles and him switched places and he's now in Sangre Grande. A good switch. Now they can get work done in Sangre Grande. Elder Vaea is from Tonga. He's a convert and way tight. He learned english in Guyana so he sounds just like a guyanese which talk really bad creolese.

This morning was pretty crazy. We had to take the Guyana Zone Leaders to the airport at 3 AM this morning. I woke up like 8 times in the night because I was worried we'd not make it on time. We got em there on time though. Thus I am way tired right now. These past few days were pretty fun. Basically did errands for the AP's and President cause it was Zone Leader Council and all the ZL's in the mission were here. Made for long nights and few lessons taught. But it worked out good. Like for example I wasn't at my ward this past Sunday. We had to go to the one near the airport because we picked up Elder Noah at 8:50 on Sunday Morning and barely got there in time for sacrament. It was fun to have all of them here. I got to see a lot of mission buddies that i hadn't seen in a long time. It was a blast.

Things are going pretty good for us. Remember how I said Natalie and Prince were avoiding us? We actually taught them 2 times this past weekend. Prince isn't too interested but Natalie still wants to be baptized really bad. She's reading the BOM every day which is a great sign.

Overall things are great. I'm happy with everything. But I don't have any more time so I'll write more next week. Gotta go to correlation.

Disappointments out of the way first. 1. Natalie and Prince, our "sweet" investigators fell through. We can't figure out what happened. I'm guessing she got into some anti or heard some stuff but they haven't let us teach them since that last sunday. Well i guess that's our only disappointment. that and none of our investigators came to church. We're still working with some promising people but yeah it wasn't too cool.

I don't really get the word "disappointment." It's not like when something good happens to us we say "dang that was a great appointment." Unless you're being sarcastic about a bad doctor's appointment or something which is something I would say.

Mom you asked about some info in your letter. First, the AP's right now are Elder Damm and Elder Stewart. Elder Damm is going home in a month and is way cool. I like him a lot. They're still living in our apartment. Elder Olsen and Elder Lang are in other areas but in the same zone still. So that's why i still mention them. We're all pretty good friends.

We tried to get some work going on Saturday, our only day to get out there for a whole day and get some work done. We taught 2 lessons and had an epic fail. A bunch of our appointments fell through and then President called with a bunch of stuff we had to do before he and the AP's flew to Barbados for the weekend. Wonderful. so the week's teaching was alright. We found a lot of new people but weren't able to progress them. We're still working though. Our investigators now are pretty cool but they're very skeptical and very timid about what we've taught them. Our big focus will be on getting them to church this week.

Sunday was a glorious day. Church was cool. One of our eternal investigators, amos' aunt that comes every other week, brought her daughter and fiance. They're way cool and now are being taught by the Curepe missionaries. Sweet. We showed up to Dorris and Rita's and found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a Thanksgiving feast. We were way surprised. I can't believe they do all this. I mean even if we didn't come they'd still cook just cause they love food but they spoil us too much. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, plantain, It was a fantastic meal. Then I brought stuff to bake cookies with so we hurried and whipped some delicious cookies up for dessert. All of our appointments fell through... again...

P-day was sweet. Elder Lang and Powers from Arima came over and stayed the night. We woke up and drove to Maracas beach in the morning. Some played football while a few of us went and explored, threw rocks at vultures that were chillin by the fishing boats. Then we all played some ultimate frisbee. Elder Prince and I took some sweet pictures, got "Richard's Bake and Shark", then called it a day.

Then yesterday we were blessed tremendously by the Child's. The auditing senior couple here. They invited us over for dinner so we could fix their computer and printer, and the AP's were invited as well. Roast beef (almost as good as mom's), gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, steamed broccoli, and fruit salad. Then mango ice cream and homemade brownies for dessert. Too bad this doesn't happen regularly. And sorry if this comes off as bragging, I was just way happy about it. Haha.

things are going pretty good with me. I'm learning tons, applying more, and feeling pretty dang good about life and the gospel. I know it's true and won't ever look back. I couldn't ask for more. (except the new journal i need).

I love you all and thanks for the letters and support you've all given me.

Elder Morris

PS: It's so crazy that all these girls back home are getting married! First Dani, Abbey Maughan, Bridget, Kelli, now Karen?? Those are fantastic women and I'm way excited for them. Congrats!

Remember Dave Smiley's hat, "Life is Good?" Good times. I still have my hat that he gave me when I got my eagle. HAHA tell him thanks for me.

I'm still with Elder Miles, the switch didn't end up happening.

Hey Dave. Dave Mecham. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Haha I can't do much all the way out here but here's an air high-five. Smack!

Life is goin pretty good right now. Dad we used that story of "A message to Garcia" in a meeting yesterday. We were talking about initiative and accountability, and it fit right in. It was a great meeting. Mom, I'm a little confused that girls think that nose/lip rings are attractive......They're not. Haha. You both still need to send me some action photos of you on those 4 wheelers. Way jealous! Please don't sell them right before I get home. Haha.

Transfer week x 2 today. Haha the new missionaries from the Dominican Republic MTC flew in last night and we've been busy preparing for them. The work never ends. I'm happy though. Me, Elder Lang, and Elder Olsen, get kicks out of picking odd, unused words like capitalize, supreme, or debacle, and saying them a lot to get the whole zone to say them. We're doing pretty good. Also we make up catch-phrases to describe certain situations like how if you do something that make you feel like a man we call it a "supreme situation." What's funny is that it has caught on with all of the other ones. Haha it's way fun.

Thanks Ryan for the ties. They are fantastic. To trick people in the office I've been changing them every couple of hours. Sister Mimi (the front dest secretary) is from Canada and is crazy. She thinks it's hilarious. Fun stuff.

P-day we played..............ULTIMATE FRISBEE!! Reminded me of old times. I miss playing at Southwood. What was even better was playing on Elder Prince's team! He still has his skills. Haha. It's sweet bein out here with him. Let alone him being in the same zone as me.

So get this. 2 weeks ago the missionaries in North Zone blitzed our area. Finally we saw some great success out of that on Saturday. We called one of the people they met and they said we could come. We came over and met Natalie and Prince. Way sweet couple. Gave us homemade mauby. (Look that up if you want to. Way food drink made out of tree bark.) Then we taught them about the restoration of the gospel, and priesthood authority. They were way excited. When we invited them to prepare to be baptized on the 31st, Natalie looked over at Prince and asked, "Well, what do you say?" Prince just says "yes of course!" Then Natalie loods back and says quickly "well me too." Haha they're really cool. taught them with President Gamiette on Sunday. He was impressed with them. We get there and the Netherlands Spain game is on at 82 minutes. President love football and so he looks at me and says, "Elder Morris we get to watch the game" Haha joking of course. Spiritual lesson and they are even more solid the the 31st. they are getting married in the next two weeks and so we don't have to worry about that!

Things are going well with me though. I'm happy as a clam as they say. Things are moving alon better, still busy in the office but what can you do. There's a quote from Brigham Young about the manufacturers of clothing back when they were beginning missionary work about how if they put their minds to it they will be filled with the spirit even as much as those sharing the gospel all day. Thought it was cool. My calling is to do my best both in the office and in my area. I felt like I wasnn't being useful like I wasn't fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. But I guess I am.

I love you all, and if you want to send me a letter I won't disapprove. Haha.

Edler Morris

PS: Pictures!!

Don't know which order I sent but one is a picture of this random awesome stray dog that came up and jumped up on me at the beach in Grenada. The other one is Elder Damm backing up the huge mission bus out of the driveway to our apartment. (Takes some skills). Then the first one i'm pretty sure is Keisha's baptism!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

July 9, 2010

Hey everyone-

Things are going well here in Trinidad. This week was transfers and we were extremely busy as usual. It was great to take elder Scott and others who are on their way home to the airport Thursday morning. The mission is definitely losing some quality missionaries.

4th of July definitely wasn't as patriotic as they usually are. I did wear a red white and blue tie though. Monday July 5 we had a barbecue at the senior couple's house. Bring your own meat style. Way good. Had some delicious steaks and bratwurst, then had a devotional with all their neighbors. Pretty fun day. Transfer week has kept us extremely busy. We're never able to get much work done. In the field that is. We were too busy driving all around Trinidad... again. (By the way, mom, the biggest difference in driving here isn't the right side/left side debacle. It's the quality of drivers. People are crazy here and the streets are way narrow so it is just a different style of driving altogether. It's way fun. It's a lot more exciting driving here than back home.)

That's cool about the girl learning about the church in our ward. You don't have to know everything before baptism. Hope the foster parents let the missionaries set that baptism date. Too important. Here we set baptismal dates in the first lesson.

Yesterday I flew to Grenada, that was pretty neat. Haha. Had to go out then back in to renew my driving privileges in the country. I don't know why I don't just get an international driver's license but hey, a trip to Grenada is a trip to Grenada. Elder Gilley also came so we took a taxi to Grand Anse, ate some KFC, then went to the beach and took some pictures. It was pretty sweet. 2 more stamps in my passport so I'm happy.

We had our last show of Nuggle Radio last Friday night. It was a great one too. We'll start it back up when we get back home.

We had our end of transfer breakfast on Monday morning. We stayed the night Sunday night in Curepe and played "signs" for hours. Way fun haha. Woke up realizing nobody brought any food so we went to Rituals (Trinidad Starbucks) and got doughnuts and coffee free ice chillers. Made for a pretty good p-day.

Keisha is still doing great. Her sister was able to come. Natasha. She's a member but she hadn't been to our church in 4 years. Pretty awesome to see her there. Things are going well for them.

That's about it for me. Things are going fine, all is well in this part of Zion!

Decided the other day that in the summer after I go home, I’m gonna learn Spanish and French.

Anyways. This past week was stressful. Very... very... stressful. Oh well. Baptizing this Saturday definitely helps. Keisha is getting baptized! She is way excited. Last night she read 7 chapters of 1st Nephi and is loving every second of it. She said her favorite part of the Book of Mormon is that it's teaching her to stick to what she knows to be true, and to have faith in it. She's progressing well. We've taught her everything so tomorrow is her interview, then Saturday morning at the Port of Spain chapel she'll be baptized! We printed out invitations for church and she invited all her friends, her fiancé, and her family. She's learning way fast.

Dareem.... fell through. We couldn't meet with him last week until Friday and I learned the hard way about how quickly Satan moves in on investigators. Dareem on Friday told us that the Book of Mormon is a "good book." He said that this faith is not his faith that he'll choose. We asked him "what about the Book of Mormon? You told us you knew it was true". He kinda shrugged it off but I feel so bad for him. Maybe he'll be prepared a next time. But that's why daily contact is so necessary. Because we couldn't meet with him his testimony got too weak. He'll definitely have another chance though. Marcia is kind of the same story. She has been too busy with work and we haven't been able to meet with her since last week. Didn't come to church so we'll try to meet with her again and help her come but we'll see what we can do.

One of the members out here, Brother Malcolm, took us out Sunday to teach some of the people he's been working on. Don't know if they'll progress but we're seeing them again this week. It was cool though. Brother Malcolm has been a member a long time so he knows what's up. He has been doing his own missionary work. He's like 55 or 60 but he's way cool.

Saturday night we had another episode of Nuggle Radio. Haha it was a blast again. This time we made a top-10 of different "Shame-pain" moments. Where you do something which immediately brings you a sense of shame and pain inside. The failed girl maneuver, when people find out you back-talked them (the back-talk blowup), mistakes in gender, being overly sarcastic and hitting a soft spot, etc. This time we had Elder Ackerman be the producer and he watched over the phones. People made a beeping noise and then he'd say "caller you're on the air" and then they'd start talking. Haha we'd ask for callers with stories about each of the 10 shame pains. Definitely was a blast. Our whole zone was on and a couple from Trinidad central and south zones. About 14-16 listeners. Haha definitely has unified our zone. Helps bring a little comic-relief to help me with stress haha. I'm afraid my hairline's receding!

Things are going good, I am pretty sure I’ll be transferred in 2 weeks. I have been here for 6 months almost. That's a pretty long time if you ask me. Could be Barbados. Everyone's gunning for that cause it's the new island coming into the mission. People are way excited. I had to call the couple on the island for office stuff and while I was doing that I asked if they knew Billy Oden, cause he's in the Puerto Rico East Mission. They said "Yes!! We love Elder Oden!! He was here last transfer!! They talked all about him for like 5 minutes." I told her to give him a call and tell him Elder Morris says hey from the West Indies Mission. Haha it was pretty cool. I'd love to serve in the same area as him! Way cool.

Well, I gotta get going. We have correlation tonight then an FHE with Keisha. We're going over the baptismal interview questions before her interview tomorrow. It'll be good. It was good to hear about all the stuff you've been up to!! I love ya much.

Elder Morris

June 30, 2010

I wish I had more time to write but I don't!

Anyways this past week was sweet. I don't have the picture of the baptism to show you but we baptized Keisha on Saturday! She was way ready, passed her interviews, and is going to be a sweet member of the church. She bore her testimony at the baptism and knows D sure that it is true.

One of the missionaries in the zone has been very ill and so we've been making a lot of hospital runs and airport runs so that's kept us busy. Transfers are next week and I know where I'm going, along with everybody else, but nobody else knows yet in the mission. I'm staying in the office, again, with Elder Miles. I was pretty surprised but the AP's said that president doesn't want to move me out yet. Dang I’ve been in San Juan for 6 months! I guess I’ll be here for another 1 1/2. No problem though. I'll do what I gotta do. My desire/motivation is getting back up to where it needs to be. I woke up this morning and I felt great. I worked out, cleaned up my room and desk, had a sweet personal study on 2 Ne 26 and 27. So now I’m feeling pretty good about things. The situation hasn't changed, but I feel like a lot of the weight has been lifted a little bit off my shoulders.

Barbados is now part of the mission. The missionaries there right now are just waiting for the new ones to come in. There’s 2 now, waiting for the 6 more that'll be there. They hadn't heard from anyone in the mission and so were a bit confused in what was going on. Elder Wheeler in the office called them today and talked to them. Barbados would be a cool place to serve.

Other news, Nuggle Radio was not as good this week. At 10 I had to drive to Sangre Grande which is about an hour away and my phone died halfway there. So Elder Lang had no co-host. Our ratings dropped but it'll be back up to par this next week.

I gotta go but more next week! Things are going great. Thanks for all your words of encouragement and love.